Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Andrew Rowan, CEO of Humane Society International, will speak on "Dogs in Asia: Friend or Food" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14 in room 1008 of the Computer Information Science (CIS) Building at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The lecture is free and open to the public.

There are an estimated 650 million dogs worldwide. Of these, approximately 250 million are not attached to a particular home but live as community or feral dogs in villages and on city streets.

"The interaction of communities in Asia with dogs is changing rapidly," said Rowan. "My talk will cover the challenge of street dog management initiatives, the problem of rabies control in Asia, the development of a “pet” culture and the conflicts over eating dogs."

Humane Society International, the global arm of the Humane Society of the United States, has projects in India, Bhutan, China and the Philippines involving high volume street dog sterilization, the training of municipal managers in humane dog management and campaigns against the dog meat trade.

Rowan’s visit is sponsored by the Pre-Veterinary Medical Association, with funding support from the Student Government Association.

For more information, contact PVMA president Tiffany Keenan at tfk9187@uncw.edu.

Media contact: Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.508.3127 or fischettid@uncw.edu